Mixing apparatus



June 8, 1954 G. G. BALcH MIXING APPARATUS Filed April 22, 195o ...bmi 2 /f/.7/ /f////// Irl ATTORNEY Patented June 8, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,680,414 MIXING AFPA,RA'rUsl Gerald G. Balch, Pittsburgh, Pa'. Application April 22, 1950, Serial No. 157,446

(C1. lov- 1) 3 Claims. l

The object of the present invention is to provide apparatus whereby an ice cream body-containing a longitudinally extending and continuous core, or a plurality'of cores of a congealed syrup or other avoring material may be so acted upon as to distribute said flavoring material in disconnected portions of irregular length, a1- though certain of said portions may be closely7 contiguous. The apparatus is so formed as to have no moving parts.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a view in sectional elevation showing an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary vertical section taken through the mixing tube and illustrating a modication of the mixing elements.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3, Fig. l.

` Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4 4, Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 2 showing a further modification.

Referring to the drawings I have shown at I the lower section of a tube which is formed at its base with a iiange tube which may be beveled in accordance with a seat formed in the upper end of a tubular casing 3. The two elements are held together by threaded collar 4.

The lower end of tubular casing 3 is threaded to receive a collar 5 which connects that end with a discharge pipe E. Discharge pipe 6 is formed with a flanged head l, the upper portion of which is beveled to engage the correspondingly formed seat at the inner wall of tubular casing 3 at the lower end thereof.

The upper horizontal edge of discharge pipe 6 provides an annular seat for a cross-bar 8 which centrally receives the stud or rod-like end 9 of a spiral blade IIJ. This blade carries at its upper end portion a stud or rod I I which is fitted within an axial recess in a cross-bar I2.

In carrying out my process I inject into a moving and preferably annular mass of ice cream I4 one or more cores I5 of a flavoring material, chocolate fudge being an example. This moving body with its inwardly positioned flavoring cores Will be split by the top cross-bar I2 and the moving body of ice cream, with its flavoring material, will be caused to follow the fixed spiral mixing blade. Because it is so xed there will be a complex irregular movement of the mass which will break the flavoring core or cores into distributed `space sections which are irregular in both length and cross-section. Finally the body will be again 2 split by the cross-bar 8 and will pass into the discharge pipe 6. The obstructions to the moving mass and the splitting thereof by the crossbar constitutes an important factor in the desired mixing action.

In the modification of Fig. 2 a plurality of conical members I6 are iixed upon a holding rod Il, one end of the rod being seated in a crossbar I8 similar to that shown at I2 in Fig. l cones and cross-bar being mounted in the same tubular casing 3 as shown in the preceding iigure. Also the lower cross-bar 8 of that figure will be used as a support for the rod I'I. By the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, the ice cream and navoring mass will be split, then compressed and further split at the periphery of the rst cone, then expanded below the first cone and compressed and split at the periphery of the second cone.

In the construction of Fig. 5 the cones are substituted by xed disks I9, the construction otherwise being the same.

Having described my invention, it will be understood that various modications may be made in the form and arrangement of the elements illustrated in the drawing without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A method of making an ice cream product having distributed therein a plurality of portions of lavoring material oiirregular length and conguration, said method comprising the steps of .forming ice cream into a tubular mass, providing a core of avoring material within the interior of said tubular mass of ice cream, breaking up said core into a plurality of portions of i1'- regular length and conguration, and simultaneously therewith distributing said irregular core portions within the ice cream.

2. An apparatus for making an ice cream product having distributed therein a plurality of p0rtions of avoringmaterial of irregular length and configuration, comprising a longitudinal hollow chamber having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening at the other end, a pair of transverse bar members each xedly secured in said chamber adjacent a respective one of said end openings and extending transversely across the interior of the chamber perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof, and a longitudinal unitary spiral single blade member the diameter of said blade being substantially the diameter of said chamber extending within and longitudinally of the chamber, said blade member being xedly References Cited 'in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,083,275 Eberhard Jan. 16, 1914 2,006,375 Vogt July 2, 1935 Number 4 Name Date Alexander Feb. 13, 1940 Howser July 9, 1940 Balch June 24, 1941 Cowling Oct. 28, 1941 Friedman Mar. 9, 1943 Wedin Nov. 9, 1943 Routh Nov. 13, 1945 Reetz Aug. 16, 1949 

